Not the mess i feared it would be

Rating: 6/10 (3 September 2005)

Living in backwoods Sweden it's always custom to hear a lot of things about movies before the finally reach us out here. And this movie was more or less written down before it even arrived. Attendancy was poor, the studio blamed the actors for being.. well terrible actors! The actors blamed the studio for poor marketing. It all seemed like a piece of crap that nobody really wanted to take responsibility for. After actually seeing the movie i sort of wonder why.
Michael Bay is one of the most awful directors active today. He completely lacks all sensitivities vital to a successful director. He has no sense of pace, no sense of mood and absolutely no sense at all when it comes to temperance. Bay is more or less just about one thing: spend as much money as possible and make as much noise as you can while doing it. Considering his previous works i guess they must have had him restrained during the first half-hour of the movie because it's actually quite calm and controlled.
The actors are the main upside to the movie i would have to say. Glorious computer effects and action scenes with dozens of cars being smashed, helicopters exploding and people flying left and right are commonplace today. So that's not really an incentive for me to see a movie. Good acting on the other hand, now that is something i'm willing to pay for. And i think i get my money's worth here. Scarlett Johansson is decent enough as the female protagonist and Ewan McGregor makes his usual solid performance, although in my opinion Sean Bean outshines them both. They show once again what "The Bourne Identity" taught Hollywood, that even in action movies decent actors go a long way.
So what's the backside? Well i would have to say Michael Bay. Because after a while it seems he managed to escape from his restraints and from then on it's full speed ahead and "insert earplugs". Bay goes ahead and does what he always does, let's a couple of dozen million dollars explode with loud bangs. All accompanied by shaking cameras, epilepsy-inducing editing and loud music. So while i would probably call this the best movie Michael Bay has managed to make to this day, it's not thanks to his directing, rather despite it.
Beside his major flaws as a director the other cons of the movie sort of fade away. Oh, i noticed them (like extremely obvious and silly product placement, a plot with more than a couple of holes etc.) but i didn't mind them much. In the end this is an entertaining ride, entertainment for as long as it lasts. And simple mindless fun is not something to despise, just as long as you realize what it is you're watching. "The Island" is far from the mess i feared it would be, and it's a lot better than most crap i've seen in theaters this summer. I rate it 6/10.